Room:

Independent and Peaceful Australia Network

In few regions is the shift in geo-political power as evident as East Asia and the Western Pacific. The dominant feature is the rise of China and its challenge to US hegemony in the region it considers its back yard; followed by the Obama administration’s famous ‘pivot’ in order to counter the rise of a giant rival to its global dominance, in both economic and military terms. But other nations are also asserting themselves: from Russia, Japan and the Koreas in the north to the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia in the south. These are not simply squabbles over tiny islands and shipping lanes; at stake is access to the seabed and large reservoirs of fossil fuels; as well as regional dominance in general.

Jenny Clegg, Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding, UK

Sooyoung Hwang, People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, PSPD, South Korea

Takao Takahara, Meijigakuin University, Japan

Corazon Fabros, Stop the War campaign, Philippines